Shooting by off-duty cop justified, officials say

April 14, 2006|By From news services

Chicago police officials ruled Thursday that the fatal shooting of a man who attempted to aim a gun at an off-duty officer was justified.

Brian Keller of the 9500 block of South Peoria Street was shot around 6:55 p.m. Wednesday in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood by an off-duty Gresham District tactical unit officer who has not been identified. Police and witnesses said Keller, 30, had a semi-automatic handgun that he started to point at the officer outside an apartment building in the 7700 block of South Hermitage Avenue.

This is the third fatal shooting involving off-duty police officers in the past month.

Keller and the officer had allegedly been involved with the same woman, according to witnesses and police.

But police said the two men did not know each other and do not believe the shooting was the result of a "love triangle."

Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said police interviewed the woman, who told investigators the two men did not know she was dating the other.

"The fact that the offender knew the female and the officer knew the female does not make this a love triangle," Bond said.

Bond said the officer was in the neighborhood to show the woman his new car, a BMW sedan. The woman was expected to be visiting friends who lived in the apartment building.